EDMONTON – Edmonton Oilers expressed their support for goalkeeper Mike Smith on Tuesday and said they would have a better performance against the Los Angeles Kings in Game 2 of the first round of the Western Conference of Rogers Place on Wednesday (22:00 ET; ESPN2, CBC, TVAS, SN, BSSC).
The Kings won 4-3 in Game 1 of the best series of 7 on Monday, after Smith’s turnaround led to Philip Danault’s winning goal in a 14:46 draw from the third period.
“I think it was a mistake in handling the puck,” Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said of Smith’s attempt to pass to a teammate in the midfield who was taken out by Kings striker Alex Jaffalo. “He made a big save from this mistake. I think that as a team we can do things to help him in this situation, the first being to communicate. I think that when you communicate well, it leads to speed for your team. So I think we can do a better job there. And that’s a real skill of his. “
Woodcroft said he had decided who would start for the Oilers in Game 2, but declined to share. Smith, who made 31 saves in Game 1, seems to be the likely choice for Miko Koskinen, and he has the support of the locker room despite the mistake.
“He is the leader of our team,” said striker Zack Hyman. “He’s in the locker room. Everyone makes mistakes during the match. Even then he made a great save to get back into the net and we could help him, so it wasn’t one thing … It went to the back of the net. There were a number of things that could be done to prevent this and he was phenomenal for us. He is part of our team, a huge leader in the locker room and just a great teammate. “
[RELATED: Complete Oilers vs. Kings series coverage]
In Game 1, the Oilers, second in the Pacific Division, were 2-0 behind in the first period of the third-placed Kings. Edmonton eventually tied the game 3-3 by the middle of the second period after a draw between captain Connor McDavid and goals in the power play of Kayler Yamamoto and Leon Dreiseitl.
The hesitant start in Game 1 may have had something to do with the energy and emotion created by the 18,347 fans who attended Rogers Place, said defender Tyson Barry.
“I don’t think there have been any fans in the last two years, so last night was definitely a different atmosphere than we’re used to in the playoffs,” Barry said. “Was a lot of fun. It was amazing. The energy of the audience was great and you could probably see it a little bit in our game in the beginning. We were also a little nervous and nervous. It was a great atmosphere. We just have to show a little resilience here and come back and bring this one here tomorrow.
“They did some good plays and maybe we did some things that weren’t typical for us early, maybe over-excited. … We were in a good position with five minutes to go and we left him. We know for sure that we are better in our room and you can feel it. It would be worrying if we thought we were giving them everything we had but didn’t get on top of. But I think we know we’ve gotten a little better in our room and we’re “going to be better.”
Hyman said the biggest mistake would be to overdo game 1.
“It’s a long series, so don’t think about it, don’t overreact,” he said. “Watch the tape, the match was close, we fell early with 2-0 and we fought and we had a chance to win and we were really good in going back. We will watch the video and see if you are ready for tomorrow. “
Under Woodcroft, who was hired on February 10 to replace Dave Tippett, the Oilers managed 26-9-3, including 7-2-0 in games after losing in the regulations.
Hyman said this led the Oilers to believe they would be fine for Game 2.
“I don’t think we played badly in Game 1, I just don’t think we played our best,” he said. “We have another level to reach. In the playoffs, when you lose a game, you just want to play another game as fast as possible because you don’t like that feeling. So tomorrow we will be a hungry band and we are excited about the opportunity. “
Woodcroft said he was encouraged by the number of opportunities Edmonton created between equalizing 3-3 and Danault’s winning goal later in the third period, although they could not decide Kings goalkeeper Jonathan Quick after that.
“We didn’t like the result, disappointed that we didn’t get the result we wanted, but there were some good things to get out of this game,” Woodcroft said.
Woodcroft expects the Oilers to calm down by experiencing their first taste of playoff hockey this season and the extra emotion that goes with it.
“I think you want your team to play with emotion,” Woodcroft said. “You want controlled emotions. I think for us we would like to start the game better than us … You want to make sure that you play according to your identity and your structure. That’s what brought us to this point.”
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